Edward William O'Sullivan (17 March 1846 – 25 April 1910) was an Australian journalist and politician. Early life and journalism O'Sullivan was born in Launceston, Tasmania. His father deserted the family when he was a child and he was mainly educated by his mother Mary Ann who was the daughter of Edward Burgoyne, a soldier of the 63rd regiment [born Derry, Ireland c.1794] by his wife Catherine Cruise. He started as a printer's devil on the Hobart Mercury but, being bright and intelligent, graduated at the desk, and became, when still young, a reporter for that paper. In 1869 he went to Sydney, but soon returned to Hobart and started a paper, the Tribune. This had some success but selling out in 1873 O'Sullivan made for Melbourne,working as a journalist. He was editor of the St Arnaud Mercury for about three years. In 1878, he married Agnes Ann Firman and started working a The Argus. In 1882, he went to Sydney and for about a year was overseer in the Daily Telegraph office. O'Sullivan took a prominent part in union circles and became president of the New South Wales Typographical Association and became President of the Trades and Labor Council for six months from March 1883. In 1884, he founded a working man's party the Democratic Alliance and its newspaper the Democrat, but both failed. In 1884 O'Sullivan was part of a land reform conference, which included Paddy Crick, Louis Heydon and Adolphus Taylor to "establish a political organisation of the agricultural, mining, and working classes of New South Wales, in order to initiate a more liberal and progressive policy for the colony", a protectionist party that became known as the Land and Industrial Alliance, which was for a time more successful. In 1909 he became the third President of the New South Wales Rugby League in the year after incumbent secretary and founding father of the game Henry Hoyle resigned. Hoyle was replaced by ECV Broughton, however he stood down after just less than a month due to poor health. O'Sullivan resigned as a matter of principle, upon learning that a secret faction within the NSWRL had been plotting to pay the amateur Rugby Union Wallabies players to play games against the Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos. Parliamentary career He first stood for the legislative assembly for the district of West Sydney, at the 1882 election but